No. 6 Duke beats No. 23 FSU 72-66 in ACC semifinal

Peters had 17 points, 13 rebounds and the go-ahead basket with 4:06 left to help the Blue Devils beat No. 23 Florida State 72-66 in Saturday's semifinals.

The top-seeded Blue Devils (29-2) never trailed but had a tough fight all day with the fourth-seeded Seminoles (22-9). In the end, Duke extended its winning streak — four years and counting — against FSU while returning to the title game for the 11th time in 14 seasons.

The Blue Devils will face No. 15 North Carolina, which beat No. 10 Maryland 72-65 in the other semifinal.

faPeters, a 6-foot-3 junior averaging about 12 points, had just five points and three rebounds in 30 minutes during Friday's quarterfinal game against North Carolina State. She finished 8 for 14 from the floor with six offensive rebounds in 36 minutes against FSU, part of Duke's domination on the glass.

"What happened in the past wasn't really on my mind at all because I know what I can do on the floor and I know the shots I can make and what I can do for my team," Peters said. "So I'm not really concerned about things that have happened in the past."

Tricia Liston also scored 17 while freshman point guard Alexis Jones finished with 12 points and seven assists in her bigger role since the season-ending knee injury to co-league player of the year Chelsea Gray last month.

The teams were tied with about 5 minutes left before Peters' stickback started Duke's go-ahead push. It was just the second time Duke had won a game by fewer than 10 points all year.

"I just liked how we battled," said Duke sixth-year coach Joanne P. McCallie, who has guided the Blue Devils to five ACC finals. "We started very aggressively, we went through the game probably some hiccups along the way, but I thought our poise was outstanding and I thought our execution down the stretch was very, very good."

The Blue Devils have won seven straight meetings against the Seminoles, who haven't beaten Duke since January 2009.